Kratos is a boss in Shovel Knight, but he’s surprisingly hard to find! You might think that a neat PlayStation exclusive like this would be featured prominently, but nope, You’re going to have to hunt him down. Doing so nets you a new suit of armor (the Armor of Chaos) as well as new music from the Bard, so you’re really going to want to find him. Fortunately for you we’ve done so, and will let you know how to easily fight him.
To start, you’ll have to clear out the Hall of Champions. It's full of ghosts and a mini-boss but it isn’t a hard stage. You will have to pay the entry fee (5,000 coins) and bring light to every level (and all the Kickstarter backers) for this to work, though.
After it's cleared head back in. Go one screen to the right, climb up the ladder, and then head as far right as you can go. Hit the bottom right of this screen to unlock a secret room that holds a music sheet and some treasure, which is cool enough by itself, but this room hides yet another, more well-guarded sheet.
Head as far right of this room as you can go and do a downwards shovel strike on the block all the way to the right. It will burst open and reveal another secret area with a map floating on a pedestal. Collect this “Curious Map”, leave the area, and you’ll see another wandering character on the level select map.
Who could it be?
Kratos, of course. After a few words you two will do battle.
Kratos is a pretty easy boss to beat, even though it took us two tries in our video (below). There are two stages to it. In the first one he attacks with his trademark Blades of Athena, leaping from side to side and then pulling down blocks on your head when that fails. It’s all about the downward shovel attack here, as you’ll be able to tag him once or twice when he comes flying by you. After his health is decimated he will destroy the area, and you two will do battle in free-fall. Fortunately your health will be restored to full before this second battle starts.
Make sure to stick to the platforms as falling off of the bottom of the screen may not kill you but it will do a massive four damage. Try to stay on platforms and above Kratos and the battle shouldn’t take long at all.
Once he is defeated he will hand you a prize for this misunderstanding, a Grave Digger’s Shovel. It gives you a handy tip to take it to a Smithy and that’s just what you should do.
Head on over to the Smithy at the Armor Outpost and he will craft a brand new exclusive piece of armor for you, the Armor of Chaos. He’s quite pleased with the name.
Besides featuring an awesome fire-red pattern the armor lets you swing your shovel much like Kratos does and your downward strike will transform you into a ball of flame.
And that’s not all, since you’ll also be able to head back to the Bard in the first village, who will unlock the boss music for you.
Check out how it's (mostly) done in our video below!
